T-astragals have been used extensively for exterior type french doors which are often called double swinging doors. The t-astragal is used as both a weather stripping for the space between double swinging doors and as a lock to hold one of the doors in place in order for the other door to close onto. The weather stripping factor in these t-astragals has generally been effective in preventing light rain and light air drafts from passing through the space between the swinging doors. Sliding levers in the door attached to the t-astragal are often located on the inside portion of the door and work as a lock for preventing at least the one door with the t-astragal from being opened from the outside exterior side of the door. The sliding levers in the prior art t-astragals often slide a lever within a wood slot opening. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,094,143 to Hagstrom and U.S. Pat. No. 1,974,253 to Sandor which are incorporated by reference.
However, recent storms such as Tropical Storm Gordon and Hurricane Andrew have shown that these old t-astragal designs do not hold up to winds and rains of 25 mph or more, where the wind pressure is at least 1.57 pounds per square foot. Extreme weather conditions can often have air and water striking the sides of buildings at 50 mph, 75 mph, 110 mph and higher. Flying debris during these storms can further pummel the sides of the buildings with additional pressure. The prior art t-astragals are not able to keep the double doors closed under these extreme weather conditions. Often the metal lever components in the t-astragal can splinter the wood along the door jamb further adding flying debris during a storm that can further cause damage inside of the building.
Thus, the need exists for adequately and safely preventing double swinging doors from opening during storm conditions.